The BC Coroners Service has confirmed the identity of a woman whose body was found floating in Okanagan Lake near Kelowna on June 19. She is Melissa Joy Van Diemen, aged 34, originally from Grand Forks, but most recently living in Kelowna. Ms. Van Diemen was last seen swimming in Okanagan Lake behind City Park on June 13. The...

Evacuation orders have been rescinded for several residences in the Pass Creek/Goose Creek area and one residence on McLean Road north of Robson. Broadwater road opened to single lane traffic Sunday. However, concerns remain for Slocan Valley West Road and Crawford Creek in Crawdford Bay. Road crews have opened Broadwater Road north of Robson to […]

Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) is partnering with BC Ideas to provide five $10,000 cash awards to reward innovative solutions addressing issues which will improve the lives of residents in the Columbia Basin region. BC Ideas: Solutions for Stronger Communities is an online competition seeking to identify solutions to deal with challenges facing BC communities now […]

Castlegar mayor Lawrence Chernoff said letters are coming in fast and furious from across the region in support of the West Kootenay Regional Airport’s bid to entice WestJet to Castlegar … with some glaring omissions. “We’ve received letters from most communities – not all, but most – and we’re getting them from residents, businesses, everyone. […]

Contention between Castlegar city councillors that was once about poultry is now about process, after a motion was passed Monday night to end the debate about allowing chicken husbandry within city limits ... and ruffling more than a few feathers along the way. The divide, in this case, runs along gender lines, with councillors...

Ed Note: The following is a press release issued by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure: This summer, key sections of provincial highway and local side roads in the West Kootenay region will be resurfaced to improve safety and travel for local residents, tourists and commercial vehicles.  A $1.7-million contract has been awarded to Interoute […]

A $1.2-million water infrastructure project is well under way after council approved the hiring of Castlegar’s Venture Mechanical Systems Ltd. to undertake the upgrading and retrofitting of the city’s water treatment centre. City director of transportation and civic works Chris Barlow said the $1.2-million price tag will be...

By: Bill Bourgeois In the past two decades, British Columbians have witnessed two starkly different approaches to managing the province’s forest resources. Following the so-called “war in the woods” in the early 1990s, the Provincial Government responded with a series of initiatives emphasizing land-use planning, greater...

Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov has recently rocked the Internet by pondering the creation of new political parties in the country which currently allows only one party, the ruling Democratic Party of Turkmenistan (DPT). In the beginning of 2012, following parliamentary approval, Berdimuhamedov signed a decree legalizing the establishment of new political parties. This measure was taken to ensure competition during […]

Rossland will send a letter to support the West Kootenay Regional Airport’s (WKRA) pitch to get West Jet service into Castlegar. Coun. Kathy Wallace raised the motion as a late addition to the agenda at last week’s regular council meeting on June 11. “Part of the time constraint is that this [issue] is coming to […]